Historic and significant Type I news service photo captured prior to rookie Mickey Mantle's major league debut with the New York Yankees – April 17, 1951. Mantle, only 19 years old, is posed with fellow future Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams during the lead up to their Opening Day contest at Yankee Stadium. Batting third and playing right field, the switch hitting phenom, Mantle would secure one hit across four at-bats as the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by a score of 5-0 in front of over 44,000 fans at The Stadium. While other Type I photographs shot during this moment but from an alternate angle are known to exist within the hobby, this is the first original we have seen featuring this particular image. A fresh to the hobby example hailing from the Durham Find of Historic Baseball Photography (see special section within our printed catalog), this is a clean and bright 7" x 9" photo with a single pinhole at the top edge and an unobtrusive crease visible to the lower-right corner. Verso includes original paper caption over Associated Press credit stamping applied underneath. An important original photograph from the dawn of The Mick's legendary 18-year career as a New York Yankee. Authenticated and encapsulated as a Type I photo by PSA/DNA. Also includes LOA from PSA/DNA further establishing the image was taken prior to Mantle's major league debut.